1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an IC (integrated circuit) leadframe processing system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an IC leadframe processing system for bending and cutting a series of ICs connected with a leadframe during a production process or a leadframe of a single IC.
2. Description of the Background Art
ICs are produced through various manufacturing processes. The steps of processing the leadframe portion of an IC provided with a leadframe are roughly as follows. Upon completion of an IC chip, it is bonded to a leadframe, wired and coated with a plastic material for protection. Next, unnecessary portions of the leadframe are cut off, and pin portions are bent into a desired shape by using a bender. Thus, an IC is completed.
These leadframe machining steps are carried out by using devices necessary for machining, e.g. a cutting machine and a bending machine, which are arranged in a side-by-side relation on a machining line. The leadframe machining line is provided for each type of leadframe. The reason for this is that the leadframe size, number of pins and pin spacing vary for each type of IC, and it is therefore necessary to use machining devices conformable to each type of leadframe.
Installation of a machining line for each type of leadframe requires a great deal of installation cost. Moreover, a large amount of maintenance is required, and the maintenance costs a great deal. To increase the production capacity (throughput) of the leadframe machining process in excess of the production capacity of one machining line, another machining line of the same configuration must be added. A reduction of the production capacity can also be realized only in units of one machining line. Thus, fine adjustment of the throughput cannot be made.
The present inventor proposed an IC stocker, an IC unloading and positioning apparatus, and an IC feed system, which can be applied to ICs of various specifications (U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,393). However, the proposed technique is not a processing system that performs a series of steps, i.e. from the feed of an IC leadframe to the final machining step, by a single processing system.